Links To Photos

The blue-footed booby is one of the highlights of our trip to the Galapagos. We could get so close it was amazing. (click to enlarge)

The panoramic view from the summit of Bartolome is probably the most photographed landscape in the islands. You can see the twin bays, the Pinnacle Rock, the moonlike landscape and a view of Santiago Island close by and its famous Sullivan bay.

The panoramic view of the twin bays and Pinnacle Rock from the summit of Bartolome is probably the most photographed landscape in the Galapagos Islands. (click to enlarge)

At the Darwin Research Station in Puerto Ayora we were able to see the Galapagos tortoise whose enormous saddle-shaped shell gave the islands their name. (click to enlarge)

Charlotte Ryan, Peter Ryan and Jerome Ryan at Puerto Ayora in front of Academy Bay, waiting for the pangas to go back to the Eden for lunch. (click to enlarge)

Links To Photos

Day 8 Black Turtle Cove, Baltra

The highlight of the trip to Genovesa is seeing the red-footed booby, which are all brown with the exception of red legs and feet and a light blue bill with a red base. (click to enlarge)

We soon caught our first glimpse of a marine iguana, certainly among the most unusual creatures in the Galapagos. Charles Darwin made extensive observations on these large, lizard-like reptiles. They certainly well demonstrate the unique evolution and adaptation of Galapagos fauna, developing into efficient swimmers feeding off shore mostly on marine algae and seaweed. A gland connected to the notrils removes salt from the body, which is then expelled by sneezing. The spray often shoots up into the air and then falls back on the head, where it forms the white wig often seen on marine iguanas.

The marine iguana is among the most unusual creatures in the Galapagos, evolving into efficient swimmers feeding off shore. (click to enlarge)

Espanola has many Nazca, or masked, boobies. The masked booby has a long, stout neck and a strong, cone-shaped bill. Its plumage is mostly white, but its beak and surrounding skin are dark and brightly coloured.

The Nazca, or masked, booby has a long, stout neck and a strong, cone-shaped bill. Its plumage is mostly white, but its beak and surrounding skin are dark and brightly coloured. (click to enlarge)

Espanola is the colony of waved albatrosses, magnificent birds of enormous wing span, which breed exclusively on Espanola. It has brown upper parts and wings with gray, waved bars (hence its name), a white neck, a cream-colored nape, and a handsome yellow beak. We were lucky enough to come upon pairs of male and female waved albatrosses doing their mating dance. The pair dance with each other in an awkward waddle, move their necks up and down in rhythm, clack and encircle their bills, and raise their bills skyward. Hi-larious.

A male and female waved albatross, which breed exclusively on Espanola, do their mating dance moving their necks up and down and clack and encircle their bills. (click to enlarge)

Updated: May 2009. Click on an image to see the FULL size with a caption.

Galapagos Islands

Please see separate sections on Quito, Ecuador and Cotopaxi and Chimborazo.

The Galapagos Islands, a province of Ecuador, consists of 13 main islands and 6 smaller islands distributed around the equator, 965km west of Ecuador in the Pacific Ocean. The Galapagos Islands are world famous for their vast amount of wildlife and Charles Darwin's voyage of the Beagle.

The amount and variety of wildlife is astounding, including brightly colored Marine Iguanas, Blue and Red Footed Boobies, Sea Lions, Galapagos Penguins, Turtles, Frigatebirds, and the colourful Sally Lightfoot crabs. What surprised me the most was that the Galapagos are a wilderness where animals have never come to fear people.

Darwin only spent five weeks in the Galapagos Islands, but he later claimed that the Galapagos were the origin of "The origin Of The Species" and a natural laboratory of evolution. Where others had seen a Hell on Earth, Darwin had stumbled on a Garden of Eden.

We need to preserve this Garden Of Eden from their threats of tourism, fishing, introduced species like goats and pigs, and especially from bringing new diseases to the islands.

The Galapagos climate is largely determined by two ocean currents. From December to May the warm waters from the Panama basin cause the warm season with temperatures ranging from 22C to 32C. From June to November the cool Humboldt current creates the dry season with cooler temperatures ranging from 16C to 24C.

My Top 5 Memories Of Galapagos Islands